Dear Scott— and the performance of protest

23 May 2015

Thanks to actors Georgina Naidu and Ned Manning, to dramaturg and director Kathryn Millard, all at fortyfivedownstairs (what a fabulous performance space that is), and to the audience for making this first outing of Dear Scott— such a successful one. A standing ovation, no less!

This is Ned, myself and Georgina rehearsing Dear Scott—

I originally got into the arts via political activism. Years later, I’m back doing the performance of protest. These are very dark days in Australia. Last night I watched Tony Abbott (and Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison’s replacement as Minister for Immigration & Border Protection) refuse even to consider resettling any of the Rohingya or Bangladeshi asylum-seekers stranded in rickety boats off the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The UN may deem the Rohingya one of the world’s most persecuted people, but for Mr Abbott it’s a big Nope—actually 3 Nopes. We are the wealthiest country in the region, but this government seems happy to let our less well off neighbours do all the heavy lifting.

Dear Scott— is in part about the role of writers and artists in society. About the responsibility we have to speak out about injustices, and hold elected governments to account for the things they do in our name.